Justice and Security Bill — New Clause 4 — Closed Material Procedure — Expiry of Provisions Unless Renewed — 4 Mar 2013 at 21:45

The majority of MPs voted against making the closed material procedure for introducing national security sensitive information to courts, but not making it available to the parties and their representatives, expire after a year unless it is actively renewed.

The new clause, new clause 4, rejected in this vote stated:

• Expiry and renewal
• (1) Sections 6 to 12 of this Act expire at the end of the period of one year beginning with the day on which this Act is passed.
• (2) The Secretary of State may, by order made by statutory instrument, provide that sections 6 to 12 of this Act are not to expire at the time when they would otherwise expire under subsection (1) or in accordance with an order under this subsection but are to continue in force after that time for a period not exceeding one year.
• (3) An order under this section may not be made unless a draft of it has been laid before Parliament and approved by a resolution of each House.’.

Sections 6-12 of the Bill^[2] relate to the Closed material procedure introduced in the Bill which may be used in certain civil proceedings in the High Court, the Court of Session, the Court of Appeal or the Supreme Court. The procedure enables material, the disclosure of which would be damaging to the interests of national security to be used in court but disclosed only to the court, special advocates, and the Secretary of State and not the parties to the case or their representatives.

• [1] Parliament's webpage on the Justice and Security Bill (now an Act)
• [2] Clause 6 of the Justice and Security Bill as at the time of the vote

Debate in Parliament | Source |